Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Anthony John Hardy: The Camden Ripper

River of Blood

Thames River, London

On December 17, 2000, a man walking along the River Thames in West
London noticed something unusual floating in the water. As he drew near,
he realized that the object was the upper body of a woman. The rest of
her body had been severed at the waist.
Police were immediately
called to the scene near Church Road in Battersea and the womans remains
were drawn from the river. Medical examiners later speculated that she
had been in the water for a couple weeks and had likely been cut by a
sharp instrument such as a sword. According to a December 29, 2000, BBC
News article, the woman had two distinct characteristics, a tattoo and a
twisted lateral incisor tooth that the police hoped would help identify
her.

Zoe Parker's rose tattoo

It didnt take long for the relatives of the victim to come
forth after seeing pictures of the tattoo in the local newspapers. The
young woman was identified as Zoe Louise Parker, 24, who worked as a
prostitute in the Feltham and Hounslow area. In a January 5, 2001, BBC
News article, her mother described her as a loving, caring daughter who
suffered from learning disabilities. The family was devastated by the
loss and appealed for any information concerning their daughter or her
murder.

Zoe Parker

Police hoped to find the killer before he struck again.
However, they had no strong leads in the case and no suspects. Less than
two months later another horrific crime shocked the community.
In
late February of that year, three 10-year-old boys fishing in the
Regents Canal at Camden retrieved a bag from the murky water. Upon
opening it, the boys were mortified to find human body parts. Police
were contacted and a search of the area immediately commenced.
During
a sweep of the canal, investigators found approximately six bags, which
contained various body parts wrapped in bin liners. Bricks had been
used to weigh down the bags. Not all of the womans body was accounted
for. According to a March 2001 Birmingham Evening Mail article,
the authorities suggested that the rest of her body was either still in
the canal wrapped in bags or being kept by the killer as a trophy.

Paula Fields

The woman was later identified as Paula Fields, 31, of
Liverpool, who had lived in the Highbury Grove area for a couple years
before her death. She was a mother of two who worked as a prostitute to
support her 150 a day crack cocaine habit. Paula was last seen getting
into a red car on December 13. The authorities speculated that a hacksaw
was likely used to dismember her body.
Initially, Paulas
ex-boyfriend, who had a violent criminal history, was suspected of the
gruesome murder. However, there was no evidence indicating that he was
involved in the crime. Police eventually let the man go and began the
search anew for a suspect.
In December 2002, a series of equally
horrific crimes occurred in the Camden area. Even though police
initially denied any link between the new victims and Zoe and Paulas
murders, it was later speculated that the same person might have been
involved. The similarities between the cases were just too much to
ignore. By January 2003, the police had a new suspect in custody,
Anthony Hardy, 51, an unemployed mechanical engineer. His gruesome
activities later earned him the nickname the Camden Ripper.

Anthony Hardy

According to a November 2003 article in The Daily Mail,
Anthony John Hardy was born in 1951 in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire
and was the son of a coal miner. From an early age Hardy yearned to
escape the lower middle-class lifestyle in which he was raised. He
worked hard in school and excelled academically. Ultimately, he was
accepted at Londons Imperial College to study engineering.
During
the mid-1970s, Hardy met and married Judith Dwight, with whom he
attended university. The couple moved to Tasmania, Australia, where they
raised their two boys and two girls. However, Justin Davenport and Hugh
Dougherty reported in a November 2003 article in The Evening Standard that from as early as 1982 Hardy displayed symptoms of mental illness.The Daily Mail
article claimed that during that year, Hardy tried to kill Judith by
bludgeoning her over the head with a water bottle, before trying to
drown her in the bath. No charges were filed against Hardy and he
checked himself into a psychiatric clinic in Queensland following the
incident. He remained there for several weeks before returning back to
Britain.
The couple filed for divorce in 1986. Judith maintained
custody of the children and like Hardy, moved back to Britain to begin a
new life. Shortly after returning to his home country, Hardy began
stalking Judith, which led to her filing a restraining order against
him. Davenport and Dougherty claimed that he broke the restriction order
and as a result he was temporarily imprisoned.

Anthony John Hardy

Following his release, Hardy sought psychiatric help at
outpatient clinics. According to Jeanette Oldhams January 2003 article
in The Scotsman, he was diagnosed with, peripheral neuropathy, a
disorder which is known to cause depression. He was also diagnosed with
manic depression and prescribed medication to reduce symptoms.
In
the early- and mid-1990s, Hardy was homeless and spent much of his time
living in various hostels throughout the city. During that time, Hardy
began abusing drugs and alcohol, which further exacerbated his
psychological problems. He got into trouble with the law on several more
occasions for aggressive behavior and theft for which he served a short
stint in jail.
Davenport and Dougherty reported that in 1998
Hardy was arrested for indecent assault after a prostitute claimed he
had raped her but the charges were later dropped and he was released. A
January 2003 BBC News article reported that he was also investigated for
three other rapes, yet, there was insufficient evidence to bring a case
against him. However, he was ordered to seek psychiatric counseling,
which he took advantage of at a local hospital. He was eventually
discharged and referred to out patient care.

Anthony Hardy's apartment in Camden

In 2000, Hardy moved into a one-bedroom public housing flat on
Royal College Street in Camden. Oldham suggested that his new residence
was located a short distance from Kings Cross, an area where
prostitutes frequented. It was a location that Hardy deliberately chose
for that very reason. The neighborhood would become his hunting grounds.
In
January 2002, Hardy caught the attention of police once again when he
was caught pouring battery acid into a neighbors mailbox. At around the
same time a concerned neighbor told police that they believed something
was amiss at Hardys flat. The tip led to a gruesome discovery.
When
police arrived at Hardys residence, they found the bedroom door locked.
When they broke it open they found the corpse of a young woman lying
naked on his bed. The Daily Mail reported that there was evidence
the woman suffered from cuts to her head, bite marks and bruising,
indicating that she might have been murdered. However, pathologists
claimed that she died of a heart attack and not foul play.
The
woman was later identified as Sally Rose White, 38, a prostitute from
the Kings Cross area, who was known to have an addiction to crack
cocaine. The Daily Mail suggested that Sally suffered from brain
damage and behavioral problems caused by a birth-related spinal cord
injury. It was believed that her condition, which worsened with age and
lack of treatment, coupled with her addiction to drugs resulted in her
heart attack. However, her death from natural causes would later be
questioned when the remains of other women were discovered in Hardys
flat.

The Bin Murders

On December 30, 2002, a homeless man foraging in garbage bins for
food came across a horrible discovery. Within one of the bags he found
human remains, including severed sections of two legs. The homeless man
took the remains with him to a nearby hospital where the police were
contacted.
Upon their arrival at the crime scene, investigators
immediately cordoned off the area around the bins, which was located
behind a pub on Royal College Street. Officers searched the garbage
container and found approximately eight more bags containing various
body parts. According to a December 2002 BBC News article, the torso of a
young woman was also found in a wheelie bin about 100 yards from the
original discovery.
The body parts were taken to St. Pancras
mortuary to be examined by pathologists. The cause of death was
difficult to establish because the heads and hands of the victims were
still missing. Yet, pathologists were able to determine that the remains
were that of two different women, who were likely murdered sometime
over the Christmas holidays. DNA tests were conducted in the hopes that
it would help investigators uncover the identity of the women.The Daily Mail
suggested that a trail of blood led the police to Hardys flat located a
short distance from where the bodies were discovered. They promptly
obtained a warrant and searched his ground floor apartment, where they
found a great deal of incriminating evidence. At the time of the search
Hardy was nowhere to be found.
A November 2003 article by Jeff Edwards and Don Mackay in The Mirror,
reported that investigators discovered in Hardys flat a hacksaw with
human skin still attached to the blade. Moreover, an electric jigsaw
power tool was found, pornographic magazines were scattered about, a
womans black stiletto shoe rested on the windowsill, blood was found in
the bathroom and a devils mask lay alongside a note on a table reading
Sally White RIP. However, one of the most incriminating pieces of
evidence found at his apartment was a womans torso wrapped in bin
liners.
Following the gruesome discovery, a massive search was
launched to find Hardy who had gone missing for several days. It was
suspected that he fled town. However, a CCTV video surveillance camera
caught him on tape on January 1 trying to fill a prescription for his
diabetic medication at a London hospital. A January 2003 BBC News
article claimed that Hardy shaved off his beard in an attempt to alter
his appearance.

Anthony Hardy caught on hospital video

During an interview with hospital staff, officers learned that
Hardy spent four hours awaiting his medication. It was speculated that
he had been drinking because he smelled of alcohol. According to Oldham,
Hardy became panicky and left the hospital without receiving any
medication after staff tried to convince him to go to a hostel.
The
BBC News article reported that a member of the public had seen Hardy
with a young woman named Kelly Anne Nicol, 24, shortly after the
Christmas holidays. Family members and police were concerned for her
safety, fearing that she might be Hardys next victim. However, their
fears were alleviated when she contacted her parents to let them know
she was okay. Even though she had contact with Hardy who repeatedly
tried to persuade her back to his apartment, she did not allow herself
to be influenced by him. It was a move that surely saved her life.
On
January 2, a local citizen contacted police after spotting Hardy at
Great Ormond Street Hospital for children in central London. Police
converged on the scene a short while later and found Hardy in the area
where he was last witnessed. He was promptly arrested and held at a
local police station. It was there that he would reveal the full extent
of his crimes.

Elizabeth Valad and Brigitte MacClennan

Not long after Hardy was apprehended, investigators were able to
obtain the identification of two of the victims whose remains were
discovered at his home and in the trash bin. They were identified as
Elizabeth Selina Valad, 29, of London and Brigitte MacClennan, 34, of
Camden. The two women were found to have a lot in common.

Elizabeth Valad

Bob Graham suggested in a September 2003 article in The Scotsman,
that Elizabeth was a rebellious woman who lived a wayward life from as
early as her teens. Born in Nottingham, England, in 1972, Elizabeth was
the only child of Iranian professor Hassan Valad and his British wife
Jackie. The couple lived a short while in America. Yet, the marriage
broke up when Jackie decided to return with Elizabeth back to
Nottingham. At the time, Elizabeth was about one year old.
Jackie
was quoted in Grahams article saying that her daughter was a very
difficult child who mixed with the wrong people as a teenager. She
further stated that Elizabeth dropped out of school and moved to London
by herself at age 16. From that point there was little contact between
the two. The Daily Mail reported that at age 18, Elizabeth
began a relationship with a man with whom she lived with in London.
Shortly into the relationship, Elizabeth became pregnant and later gave
birth to her little girl. The three lived with one another for a brief
period before Elizabeth left her newly formed family in search of a
different lifestyle.
It was further reported in The Daily Mail
that Elizabeth worked in a massage parlor where she became involved
with a married millionaire, who set her up in an expensive apartment and
provided her with luxurious gifts. After some time, she moved out and
started to date other people. The article stated that she began to take
crack cocaine and went back to prostitution to fund her lifestyle. Her
addiction eventually led to her death. Hardy was thought to have played
upon his victims vulnerabilities by luring them to his flat with the
promise of money or drugs.
It was Elizabeths torso that was found
at Hardys residence and her legs that were discovered by the homeless
person in the bin. It was difficult for investigators to identify her
initially because her hands and head were never found. However, they
were able to obtain a positive ID on her by processing the serial
numbers found on her breast implants.

Brigitte MacClennan

Brigitte MacClennans identity was revealed on January 6, during a
brief hearing at a Hendon court where Hardy was charged with the
murders. Brigitte, whose torso and other body parts were found in
garbage bins, was identified through her DNA. Like Elizabeth, her head
and hands were never found.
According to a Tahira Yaqoob and Michael Seamarks January 2003 article in The Daily Mail,
Brigitte, a native New Zealander and mother of two boys, worked as a
prostitute in Camden. The money she earned from selling her body was
mostly used to finance her crack cocaine addiction. Hardy was believed
to have been one of her customers, which is how she ended up in his
flat. The article suggested that Brigitte was murdered on or before
December 30, 2002, at around the same time Elizabeth was killed.
The
murders of Elizabeth and Brigitte led to a reinvestigation into Sally
Whites death of alleged natural causes. It was believed that Hardy might
have actually murdered her and simply got away with it when the
pathologist incorrectly diagnosed her cause of death as a heart attack.
They just had to prove their theory. However, after a brief inquest it
was determined that Sally had indeed died of natural causes related to
chronic heart disease. The findings would later be disproved following
surprising new evidence brought forth by Hardy.

Trials and Confessions

Central Criminal Court, The Old Bailey

Hardys murder trial began at The Old Bailey Courthouse in November
2003. During the onset of the trial, he made a startling confession. He
not only pled guilty to the murders of Elizabeth and Brigitte but also
that of Sally White, who was thought to have died of natural causes. He
had previously denied murdering the women. A November 2003 article by
Hugh Dougherty and Finian Davern in The Evening Standard,
suggested that the confession discounted the conclusions of previous
pathological reports into Sallys death and threw into question the
credibility of the medical examiners that worked on her case.

Anthony John Hardy

During the trial it was revealed how each woman succumbed to their
gruesome demise. Hardy was said to have lured all of the women to his
apartment with the offer of money. He then engaged in extreme sex with
the women before strangling them.
Davenport and Dougherty
suggested that Hardy was a pornography-obsessed necrophiliac who
achieved sexual gratification by posing the nude bodies of his victims
after death and taking explicit photos of their naked corpses. In fact,
it was suggested in a November 2003 BBC News article that his primary
motivation for committing the murders was so that he could photograph
them. It was also suggested that at the time police found Sally White,
Hardy was likely in the process of preparing her body for photographs.
She too would have likely ended up in the trash bin had the police not
interrupted his gruesome activities.
According to Edwards and
Mackay, Hardy had taken about 44 pornographic pictures of Elizabeth and
Brigitte, which he allegedly sent to a friend. The pictures were later
turned into the police. They claimed that one of the macabre photographs
depicted Elizabeth lying posed on the bed with her facial features
obscured by a devil mask and a baseball hat, both of which were later
found at Hardys flat during the search.
After Hardy had finished
with his victims, he used a hacksaw to dismember their bodies in his
bathtub. Evidence of his victims blood was found in his bathroom. Oldham
reported that when the police interviewed neighbors after the discovery
of the bodies, they claimed to have heard drilling sounds at all hours
of the day.
BBC News reported that the judge overhearing the case,
Justice Keith, said to Hardy at the conclusion of the trial, Only you
know for sure how your victims met their deaths but the unspeakable
indignities to which you subjected the bodies of your last two victims
in order to satisfy your depraved and perverted needs are in no doubt.
On November 25, 2003 Hardy was given three life sentences for the murders. An article in The Guardian Unlimited said that the judge would later decide whether he could ever be released on license.

Failure of the System

In January 2002, following the discovery of Sally Whites body and
Hardys arrest for having poured acid into a neighbors mailbox, he was
detained in the mental ward at St. Lukes Hospital in Muswell to undergo a
psychological evaluation. The Daily Mail reported that while
Hardy was being evaluated, he made sport of conning psychiatrists. The
article quoted a friend of his who said that Hardy believed he was
cleverer than they were. However, mental health experts saw through him.
Despite
Hardys efforts to fool them, psychiatrists found Hardy to be a risk to
the community, especially women. Edwards and Mackay quoted Dr. Alan
Stuart-Reid, who warned that, His behavior is characterized by
impulsiveness, lack of forethought about the consequences of his
actions, seriously irresponsible behavior, inability to learn from
experience and lack of concern for others feelings. Moreover,
Stuart-Reid also said that there was a strong chance that if he were
reintegrated back into society he would likely re-offend and cause
others serious physical or psychological harm.
Despite repeated
warnings from health care professionals, Hardy was released in November
of that year. A panel, made up of three health managers made the
decision after having found Hardy of little threat to society. Davenport
and Dougherty said that their decision was allegedly based on reports
by psychiatrists that he was of low to medium risk. However, Deborah Orr
suggested in her November 2003 article in The Independent that
the panel actually failed to read the report put forth by psychiatrists
that warned against Hardys potentially violent behavior. It turned out
to be a fatal error.
Martin Bright and Jo Revill reported in their January 2003 article in The Observer
that a spokeswoman for the Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust
confirmed that Hardy was under supervision throughout Christmas and even
kept an appointment with his supervisory group outside the hospital on
December 30, the day the vagrant first discovered the body parts behind a
pub in Camden Town. Yet, even though he was under supervision it was
extremely limited. According to The Daily Mail, health
supervisors were actually so scared of him they refused to go to his
council flat, agreeing to meet him only in cafes. Their fears should
have been enough to raise the alarm bells about his behavior but nothing
was done about it and Hardy remained free to roam the streets.
Following
Hardys arrest, a public inquiry was held to determine why he was
released when he was such an obvious threat to society. Orr claimed that
there was increasing pressure to dismiss the panel of three health
managers from their duties. However, some argued that the panel should
not have been faulted for falling victim to Hardys manipulative
psychotic behavior and that the blame rests solely on the offender.
Regardless, the fact remains that had Hardy been kept in the hospital,
Elizabeth and Brigitte would likely be alive today.

Connections

To date, it is unknown if Hardy was responsible for the murders of
Zoe Parker and Paula Fields. However, police continue to believe that
the cases are likely connected. Moreover, it is believed that Hardy was
also responsible for up to five or six other area murders that bore
marked similarities to the ones for which he was convicted. Yet, there
is not enough evidence available that directly implicates him in the
murders.
In actuality, there were few women who crossed Hardys
path during the peak of his murder spree and lived to tell about it. The
only two exceptions that police were aware of were that of Kelly Anne
Nicol and Frances Mayhew, 25. The stories they recounted lent some
insight into how Hardy may have lured some of his victims to their
deaths.
In December 2002, prior to the bodies being found in the
garbage bins, Frances received a phone call from Hardy claiming that he
had her handbag, which she allegedly lost. He gave her his address and
told her that if she wanted it she could come by his flat and collect
the bag. Neil Sears said in his December 2003 article in The Daily Mail,
that Mayhew felt uncomfortable about going to a strangers house to
retrieve her bag and contacted police for advice about what she should
do.
Frances was assured that there was no danger in going alone to
the mans house but it would be in her best interest if she informed
someone of where she was. Still feeling nervous about going to Hardys
house by herself, she asked if her landlady would accompany her. It was a
decision that probably saved her life.
When they arrived at
Hardys residence, Frances landlady waited in the car while she went to
fetch her handbag. When Hardy answered the door, his unusual demeanor
and the bazaar d�cor of his house immediately formed a negative
impression on her. The Daily Mail quoted Frances, saying that her
first impressions were of an unattractive man in an awful tracksuit
trousers far too low down his waist. Moreover, she noticed that the
walls in his house were decorated with numerous black crosses and odd
pictures of human anatomy.
According to BBC News, Hardy tired to
entice her in but she refused. In fact, he told Frances that if she
didnt come into the house he wouldnt give her the bag. Frightened by
Hardys strange behavior, Frances told him to keep it and walked back to
her car. Irritated at her refusal to come into the house, Hardy threw
her purse at her. BBC News reported that after three days she received
letters and Christmas cards from him, which prompted her to call the
police.
Shortly thereafter, Frances went away for the holidays.
Upon her return she learned of the murders he committed. The article
further quoted her saying that had he been at all violent and tried to
drag me into the flat or something, the likelihood of me being in small
pieces right now is very high.

Kelly Anne Nicol, witness

Kelley Nicol was another potential victim that narrowly escaped
Hardys murderous wrath in December 2002. According to Lynn McPhersons
November 2003 article in the Sunday Mail, Hardy repeatedly tried
to persuade Nicol to come into his flat. However her instinct warned her
to not do it. Had Kelly not followed it, she would likely have fallen
victim to Hardy. The fact is, no one really knows why Hardy did the
things he did. He still has many secrets left to reveal.